Sunday, December 19, 2010

Chiang Ching-kuo

Photo courtesy of Sarj Bloom

Sarj sent me this photograph a few days ago. He wasn't positive how he came into possession of it but he says the individual on the left is Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek. The man on the right appears to be a police officer. Does anyone have any idea who he is or where this photo was taken?

The location was the front gate of the Police Headquarter in Taipei, which was adjacent to the Executive Yuan and still is.

The person in uniform was Mr. Cheng Wei-Yuen(鄭衛元). His rank at that time was Captain, indicated by the one-bar four-star badge on his chest. Mr. Cheng graduated from the Military (Army) Academy (陸軍軍官學校), 15th class (15期). He was transferred to the police force, which was common during that period of time.

At that time, Capt. Cheng was the company commander within the Police Division of Transportation and Roadway Management, and served as the liaison coordinator in charge of the communication protocols between the police command and the motorcades.

It should be noted that the color of the S-belt was white, instead of the standard khaki color for the typical police uniform. The use of white color was arranged to be consistent with the belt color of the military police, which also matched to their white-color Harley-Davidsons.

In addition to the sidearm, Ray Ban sunglasses was part of the standard issue, which was quite rare in other groups at that time, except the fighter pilots.

He also wore the rank badge at the wrong side. The normal setup should be at the opposite side above the right pocket. We could also note the small badge on his left pocket, below the rank badge. That was the ID tag for the secret service staff.

Regarding the cap, the decoration system in fact came later. During the earlier years, there were no decorations on the caps for either the police or military. It came later when the US style uniforms were adopted.

The location was the front gate of the Police Headquarter in Taipei, which was adjacent to the Executive Yuan and still is.

The person in uniform was Mr. Cheng Wei-Yuen(鄭衛元). His rank at that time was Captain, indicated by the one-bar four-star badge on his chest. Mr. Cheng graduated from the Military (Army) Academy (陸軍軍官學校), 15th class (15期). He was transferred to the police force, which was common during that period of time.

At that time, Capt. Cheng was the company commander within the Police Division of Transportation and Roadway Management, and served as the liaison coordinator in charge of the communication protocols between the police command and the motorcades.

It should be noted that the color of the S-belt was white, instead of the standard khaki color for the typical police uniform. The use of white color was arranged to be consistent with the belt color of the military police, which also matched to their white-color Harley-Davidsons.

In addition to the sidearm, Ray Ban sunglasses was part of the standard issue, which was quite rare in other groups at that time, except the fighter pilots.

He also wore the rank badge at the wrong side. The normal setup should be at the opposite side above the right pocket. We could also note the small badge on his left pocket, below the rank badge. That was the ID tag for the secret service staff.

Regarding the cap, the decoration system in fact came later. During the earlier years, there were no decorations on the caps for either the police or military. It came later when the US style uniforms were adopted.

The location was the front gate of the Police Headquarter in Taipei, which was adjacent to the Executive Yuan and still is.

The person in uniform was Mr. Cheng Wei-Yuen(鄭衛元). His rank at that time was Captain, indicated by the one-bar four-star badge on his chest. Mr. Cheng graduated from the Military (Army) Academy (陸軍軍官學校), 15th class (15期). He was transferred to the police force, which was common during that period of time.

At that time, Capt. Cheng was the company commander within the Police Division of Transportation and Roadway Management, and served as the liaison coordinator in charge of the communication protocols between the police command and the motorcades.

It should be noted that the color of the S-belt was white, instead of the standard khaki color for the typical police uniform. The use of white color was arranged to be consistent with the belt color of the military police, which also matched to their white-color Harley-Davidsons.

In addition to the sidearm, Ray Ban sunglasses was part of the standard issue, which was quite rare in other groups at that time, except the fighter pilots.

He also wore the rank badge at the wrong side. The normal setup should be at the opposite side above the right pocket. We could also note the small badge on his left pocket, below the rank badge. That was the ID tag for the secret service staff.

Regarding the cap, the decoration system in fact came later. During the earlier years, there were no decorations on the caps for either the police or military. It came later when the US style uniforms were adopted.

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Final Flag Retreat Ceremony

Overview

The United States Taiwan Defense Command was a sub-unified command which reported directly to the Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). The command was composed of personnel from all branches of the U.S. armed forces and had its headquarters in Taipei.

Operational since November 1, 1955, USTDC was a planning headquarters for the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of hostilities, the Commander, USTDC, would have assumed an operational role and coordinated with the Government of the Republic of China in the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of such a contingency, three existing service commanders would have reported to the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command commander. The 327th Air Division commander would be the air component commander, the Taiwan Patrol Force commander would be the naval component commander, and the Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) would be the Army component commander.

In addition to planning and peacetime responsibilities, the Commander of USTDC was assigned as the Single Senior Military Representative of Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). As such, he served as CINCPAC's single military spokesman on Taiwan -- exclusive of the miliitary assistance program -- and assumed responsibility for coordinating administrative and other policy matters for all U.S. armed forces on Taiwan on behalf of CINCPAC.After twenty-three years, five months and twenty-six days of operation, the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command held its final flag retreat ceremony during the afternoon of April 26, 1979. Marine SSG D. J. Gemmecke lowered the colors for the last time.

Rear Admiral James P. Linder, the last USTDC Commander, departed Taiwan on April 28, 1979, accompanied by his wife Patricia.

Today there is no trace of the large American military compound on Chung Shan North Road in which USTDC was located. The area now contains a modern art museum, a park and a large sports stadium.

I am not a historian, but I do recognize that history unrecorded is history lost. My objective here is simply to record some of my own experiences as an Air Force enlisted man during my assignment to USTDC from 10 June 1973 until 4 September 1974, and to provide a platform for others to do the same.

Feel free to comment on any of these entries or to e-mail me with your own experiences and photographs. My e-mail address is displayed at the top and bottom of this column, or you can comment on any of my entries by clicking on "Comments" directly under each one.